🔴 FLASH: Trump Wins, Republicans Control Senate

It looks like President-elect Donald Trump won in historic fashion becoming the first Republican to win the popular vote in twenty years. It also looks like Republicans will control the U.S. Senate with at least 52 seats -- meaning, Trump will be able to get his Cabinet in place and nominations across without Democrat support. The House is still too close to call, but it will be very tight either way.

At the moment, it feels like this is a fairly significant realignment. For the profession, we think this result could really be an opportunity for us to go on offense - something we haven't done in at least the last forty years.

Specifically, because the 2017 tax bill was Trump's, I think the fundamentals of a tax deal will stay the same (corp. rate holds; extension of a number of provisions, including qualified business income deduction (199A), etc). There is a strong desire, though, to make the individual side of the code permanent, and that will mean we're going to have a real debate about issues like the estate tax, and they will have to give serious consideration to our massive debt and deficit just to make current law permanent let alone to add additional provisions that the President-Elect campaigned on (no tax on tips, overtime, Social Security, etc).

We believe this election also opens up the opportunity to have a real conversation around retirement security -- since our profession (as shown by EY) is the solution to this crisis. This landscape gives us a chance to capitalize on that reality and drive a long-term, solutions-focused conversation around it.

We are also in a significantly stronger position today on the regulatory front - particularly our efforts to prevent the Department of Labor from imposing a fiduciary-only approach that targets commissions. We are hopeful that can capitalize on the retirement security opportunity in front of us, to legislatively prevent the DOL from coming back to this issue a 5th time sometime in the future.

We have to focus on tax next year, and we can't take anything for granted and we need to be highly engaged, but - from my perspective - this is an opportunity.

As things unfold, remember, every Finseca member has access to our Road to Tax Reform series, where we discuss what the entire profession needs to know about the upcoming Superbowl of Tax. The next call is tomorrow, November 7, at 2pm. We’ll recap what we know, what’s still undecided, and most importantly, what it all means for you, your clients, and the future of tax policy. Register for the call here.

And, if you're a highly sophisticated planner using life insurance to address issues such as estate tax, wealth transfer, business continuation, executive benefits, corporate and bank-owned life insurance, retirement planning, including deferred compensation, private placement life insurance, annuities, and international needs, we'll go even deeper into the weeds on Friday, November 8, at 2pm, with an Influencer-only call with Ken Kies, one of the country’s greatest technical tax policy experts - and someone who is likely to head into the administration, and Michael Mingolelli, Jr., a Principal of Winged Keel Group. If you're an Influencer member, register for the call here.

As the tax debate intensifies, you have options to get the insights you need, and this is the time to stay informed. And, remember, my door is also always open.

-Marc